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Abstract

Since the publication of the first
edition of "Disease and Mortality in Sub-Saharan
Africa" (report no. 9784 (1991)), many new sources of
health and demographic information have become available,
including data on trends in HIV infection from antenatal
clinic surveillance sites, the first set of African life
tables from a growing number of demographic surveillance
sites, injury statistics from a small number of injury
mortality surveillance registers, and cancer data from
cancer registers. Improved methods for estimating the
incidence of several other diseases, including tuberculosis,
maternal mortality, and chronic diseases, have also improved
the reliability of health statistics. Verbal autopsy studies
have linked with demographic surveillance sites, adding to
our knowledge on changes in the cause-of-death composition
in several countries. Notwithstanding these advances in
health statistics, a theme that emerges from all the
chapters in this volume is that too little is known about
trends in the diseases and conditions included here in order
to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of programs
intended to produce better health outcomes. As we get closer
to the 2015 end point of the Millennium Development Goals,
reaching the goals will become increasingly challenging. The
continued improvement of disease surveillance and other
regularly published health information remains as important
a priority for African health systems as it was for the
first edition.